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Monday, May 25, 2009

We have really enjoyed our long Holiday weekend. The nice weather just seems to make the long weekends more special! Friday we had a youth group all-nighter. Peter and I work with the middle schoolers in our church. We knew it was going to be a rough night. It seems the longer the kids were awake the more crazy they got. I was exhausted and fell asleep probably around 3:30 and slept off and on until about 7:00. Peter slept from 4:00-4:30 and then he was awake and ready to go. The sleepover ended at 10:00 and so we came home and slept for 2 hours before we had to be up and shower so that I could go to my acupuncture appointment.

This appointment was much different then the first one. I had a whole lot more needles in this time then the first time. Definitely felt like a pin cushion! They also treated my allergy symptoms this time. I am starting to notice that it is helping my back and they seem to think that with continued treatment I will notice that the pain stays away for longer and longer and then eventually it will stay away for good! That would be absolutely amazing. I never thought I could be pain free again but I have learned to deal with the pain and now having just a couple days without any pain - it has been great and I want to be like that again :) After acupuncture we decided that we might as well keep going and so we went to a movie and then headed off to bed. It was a very good nights sleep let me tell you! I think I got a total of 12 hours of sleep that night and then got up for awhile and took a 3 hour nap! It has really messed up our schedule so we had a very low key Saturday.

Sunday we had a family bbq at my grandma's house. It was actually very relaxing and we ate way too much food! The weather has been awesome! Makes me wish that we lived somewhere warm all year round. Maybe someday! Oh well, back to work tomorrow but at least it will be a short week!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Things are going good on the home front! We are both working hard and enjoying the awesome summer weather! We spend Sunday working on basically killing almost everything in our yard. Buying a foreclosed home can be a good deal, but man is it a lot of work. I am glad that we were able to get the inside remodeled but the outside is going to take some serious time and cash! I armed myself with a bottle of bleach (here's a good tip - bleach works just as good for killing weeds as the products made for it on the market but costs only a fraction of the price) and worked through the flower beds that I have already pulled weeds in before and tried to tame down some of the weeds in the lawn (trying to get that grass to take over the yard full of weeds). Peter armed himself with a big jug of crossbow and went after the big flowerbeds that are overflowing with weeds and attacked the blackberry vines that are taking over our side yard. We seem to be winning the war with the weeds at this second in time and things are shriveling up and browning all over in the yard! Not the prettiest but much better then what it looked like before. Until next time weeds...............

I started acupuncture treatment this week for my back. I was very excited to give this a try! It was interesting. They are very holistic so even though I went in for my back pain they asked me questions for over an hour. Seems they think they can treat anything and everything wrong with me (sweet!) :) We shall see about that! They stuck some needles in my wrists and ankles and feet and several in my back and I laid down on a heated massage table and tried to relax. It was interesting and they told me I could be sleepy afterwards and I was so tired the rest of the day. I felt really good the next day but the pain has returned now. They said they need to treat it aggressively for awhile and then eventually I won't need treatment anymore. If this works I will be so happy. I have not been pain free in my back for a long time.

We are still working on running. I am not bragging too much because I still have a long ways to go and I would sound really pathetic if you knew how little I was actually running but for me this is good progress and we are sticking with it. Still want to be able to run that 5K in 2 months.

Monday, May 11, 2009

We passed! We have made it through our first "for worst" part of marriage and I think we passed with flying colors! Peter began his new job at Precision Castparts today! After today he is actually very excited about the oppurtunity and what his future holds. They gave him an office facing the river which he is pretty happy about. They have little perks like a room with pops and snacks plus a free gym membership for our family to any gym we choose. Something else very nice is that they get off work at 4:30. Peter got home tonight a whole hour earlier then he used too!!! He already has several assignments that will take him through the next several months (and he won't have to work the overtime to get it done!).

He has actually talked to a few people from KPMG lately and things do not sound very good there at all. I have had a strong feeling from the day Peter was laid off and I told him that I felt like God was protecting him from something and I really truly do feel that God has! Morale seems very low there and one of the partners from the firm just up and "quit" without any plan for his future. They are still working insane hours there and they have told them to just work 60 hour weeks until they run out of work - sounds a little fishy to me.

We are both excited about this new oppurtunity. Peter got to see some of the tax returns today and with all the returns that he did while at KPMG this is the first time that he is dealing with tax returns that are dealing with gains and not losses! Go Precision Castparts :)

God has been very good to us. Peter has been an amazing rock for me through this whole process. From the day he was laid off he has been so reassuring and worked so hard to get where he is now and I am so proud of him. He absolutely deserves the best and Precision Castparts is lucky to have him on their team! I really do think he is going to like it there. He is very excited about getting started there and seeing what the future holds. With God in control nothing can go wrong!!!

Monday, May 4, 2009

I can't believe my little niece Jillian is already 5 years old. I was so excited the day that I found out that I was going to be an aunt for the second time! The months flew by and I was lucky enough that your mommy and daddy invited me to go with them to their ultrasound when they found out that you were going to be a little girl!

We were very excited as May 5th approached and we were able to meet you! Your mommy had a scheduled C-section while the rest of us waited anxiously for your daddy to come walking down the hospital hall holding you! I will never forget the moment that your daddy brought you in and introduced you to your big sister Jezzie! You were such a cute little girl!

I couldn't wait to hold you and I spend as much time as I could getting to know you!

The months flew by and grandma and I spend lots of time watching over you and Jezzie. It was obvious from the beginning that you were a feisty go-getter!

Time went so quickly and before we knew it you were a year old and toddling all over the place! We were able to see more of your personality. You loved running around and flirting with the guys (daddy better watch out).

Then before we knew it you were 2! You were leaving the cute baby stage behind and turning into an adorable little girl!

The years flew by so quickly and I can't believe how big you and your sister are. I can't wait to watch you in the next 5 years and see the girl that you become!

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Great news - Peter was offered and accepted a position with Precision Castparts! We can breath a sigh of relief in our household. It really does seem like it is going to be a great company for him to work for and at least at this point in time they are very secure in their market! We can't thank any of you who have been praying for us enough! Really, we feel so incredibly blessed that we have come through this so quickly. We know in this market so many other people are not so fortunate. God was certainly directing this move.

When Peter began this job search I asked him what the most important thing to him was in finding another position. More important then staying in public accounting, (as most of the small firms do not hire specifically into tax) he really wanted to be able to continue his career in tax. At this stage in the game if were to take a position in audit or general ledger he would probably have almost an impossible time getting back into tax. So we were very picky from the get-go trying to find a tax job for him, but staying open minded to the possibility that he may have to settle for something less.

So we began the search for a tax position. The nearest tax positions were in BC and Southern California. After you got out of those two areas we were looking at the east coast! He did apply for a few of these positions and we knew that there was a possibility that in order for him to pursue a tax career we may have to live on separate coasts for awhile. We did not like the sound of that, but if it had to be that way we were willing to accept it.

In the meantime, Peter's tax director from KPMG made a phone call to Precision Castparts to see if they had any opening for Peter. It just so happens that in their department of 9 Tax employees (only 4 the same level as Peter) they had an opening coming up. The job was never posted outside and in the end Peter was offered a job in what we believe to be one of the only tax openings in the country and it just so happens to be 45 minutes from our house. God is good! We know he was looking out for us.

We know our families and our church families have been instrumental in their prayers for this. We are pretty private people and this is really the first thing as a couple that we have requested prayers for and I don't think we even know who all was praying for us. I know several people in the church were. It has been comforting going to church lately and having our pastors pray for people who are dealing with unemployment. God is good and we have always trusted in his plan for us. We were sad and scared when Peter lost his job but the reassurance of knowing that God was in control made it possible to walk on with faith. Now sitting here seeing the miracle of it all is exciting!

So Peter is hopefully set in his career for a long long time! He is excited about not having a cubicle anymore (he will actually have an office that faces the river), way less overtime, more opportunities to travel, better insurance, free parking, no more buses, 20-40% bonuses, and they will pay for him to get his master's in tax! Sounds good doesn't it? Now if we can just get this economy out of the hole.

My job news is not so great. June 1st I will be getting my hours reduced by 8 hours per week. Thankfully Peter will be working again. I will get to sleep in 2 more hours every morning which will be very nice but the reduction in hours will really bother our debt snowball. God is in control though ;)